Five-Star Academies come to California

The Rivals.com Five-Star Academies hit California this weekend with stops at Cal-Berkeley on Saturday and UCLA on Sunday and many of the state's top prospects are expected to be in attendance.

Livermore (Calif.) Granada running back George Atkinson III is one of the headliners at Cal. Atkinson already has offers from numerous Pac-10 schools including California, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Washington. Nebraska is also involved and Notre Dame has shown interest.

Stanford commit Amir Carlisle, a running back from Sunnyvale (Calif.) Kings Academy, is expected to be in attendance. Carlisle committed in June and has since picked up offers from Arizona State and Cal with interest from schools across the country.

Another standout running back, Lodi, Calif., prospect Jordan Perkins will be on Cal's campus. Perkins lists early offers from Stanford and UTEP and could see more coming in soon.

Offensive linemen Jordan Rigsbee from Chico (Calif.) Pleasant Valley and Jacob Welter out of Danville (Calif.) Monte Vista are on the list. Rigsbee's brother plays for the Golden Bears so he's already familiar with the campus. Cal, Arizona, Boise State and Oregon are a few of his early offers.

Welter has an offer from Ohio but is hearing from Wake Forest, Michigan, Duke, Cal, Arizona and a host of others.

Concord (Calif.) De La Salle teammates Dylan Wynn, Blake Renaud and 2012 quarterback Bart Houston will be at Cal. Wynn recently picked up his second offer - from Oregon State - to go with Washington State; Renaud has a Minnesota offer; and Houston might be one of the top rising junior quarterbacks in the state.

San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral Catholic defensive tackle Mustafa Jalil said he would prefer to attend the Five-Star Academy in Berkeley if he can find reasonable airfare but UCLA is another option.

Either way, Sunday's event at UCLA should be loaded. The RSVP list reads like a Who's Who of southern California talent.

Washington pledge Brendon Bigelow was a late addition but the standout from Fresno (Calif.) Central East is expected to be in attendance. He's widely considered one of California's best running backs.

Recent Stanford commits J.B. Salem, a defensive end from Newport Beach (Calif.) Newport Harbor, and Norco, Calif., running back Kelsey Young are on the list.

Beverly Hills, Calif., defensive end Greg Townsend Jr., who lists offers from Southern Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Miami and many others is expected to be at UCLA. The Bruins have also offered.

Anaheim (Calif.) Servite teammates Troy Niklas, a tight end with numerous offers including Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee, and kicker Connor Loftus, who has an NC State offer, said they will attend.

Fast-rising quarterback Cody Kessler from Bakersfield (Calif.) Centennial plans to make the drive down. Washington State, Pitt, New Mexico State and Fresno State have offered but Boise State and some Pac-10 schools are gaining interest.